Mets Fans, Welcome to Citi Field 2.0

New York Unveils Plans to Make its Ballpark in Queens Cozier and More Hitter-Friendly; Blue Fences Make a Comeback

By

Brian Costa

November 1, 2011

Of all the issues Sandy Alderson knew he would have to deal with, outfield walls weren't exactly high on his list a year ago. But as Alderson got deeper into his first season as Mets general manager, he began to think more about the expansive confines of Citi Field.

Playing Field Plan

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A look at the old dimensions of Citi Field versus its new measurements.
New York Mets

The ballpark dimensions seemed to hurt Mets hitters more than opponents. And the barricade in left field known as the "Great Wall of Flushing" seemed bigger each time David Wright or Jason Bay flied out to the warning track.

"You just keep looking at that thing, and that left-field wall kept getting higher and higher," Alderson said. So he found his inner Ronald Reagan and told ownership, in essence: Tear down that wall.

The Mets announced Monday that they will build a new, eight-foot fence in front of the 16-foot wall in left field and will also reduce the dimensions in right and right-center field. The new wall will be up to 12 feet closer to home plate and will be colored blue, as it was at Shea Stadium, instead of black. It will have a uniform height of eight feet, in contrast to the meandering old wall.

Renderings

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A rendering details some of the changes fans will see at the park next season.
New York Mets

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A rendering
New York Mets

The goal is to make hitting a home run something less than the gargantuan task it has been since Citi Field opened in 2009. In the last three years, the ballpark has seen fewer home runs than any other in baseball, with 1.43 home runs per game, according to Stats LLC.

The outfield will still be spacious next season, but now, Alderson said, it will be fair to hitters and pitchers alike. The overall surface area of the field will decrease by less than 2%, but the surface area beyond 300 feet will be cut by around 5%. If all goes as planned, that will eliminate chatter about how the dimensions hurt the Mets.

"You don't want the ballpark to be a distraction," Alderson said. "And I really do believe that a ballpark like ours has a more dramatic impact on the home team than it does on the visitors."

The construction of a new wall in front of the bullpens in right-center field, which will be up to 11 feet closer to home plate, should help Wright, whose natural power is in that area. The third baseman has hit only 22 home runs in three seasons at Citi Field. He hit 21 homers at Shea Stadium in 2008 alone.

"Anytime you talk to a hitter about making a park more hitter-friendly, you'd be an idiot to say you weren't on board for that," Wright said. "Just looking over the drawings, it looks like the park, dimensions-wise, looks pretty fair. Hopefully that helps my game."

Bay, who has hit only nine home runs in two seasons at Citi Field, also lauded the changes. "I think the word 'fair' really applies here," Bay wrote in a text message.

It's hardly a surprise that Mets hitters are in favor of the new dimensions. More striking is the fact that Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen strongly endorsed the changes when Alderson asked him for his input.

Despite the cavernous field, Mets pitchers have allowed nearly as many home runs at home (162) as they have on the road (169) in the last three years. Warthen said the dimensions have allowed Mets pitchers to become too comfortable for their own good.

"We got into being a little bit mentally lazy and overly secure," Warthen said. "I think that caused a lot of the homers this year. I really do." The new dimensions, Warthen added, "will help us focus and concentrate and not be so ready to go out there and throw a fastball away and hope they hit it to center field."

In studying fly-ball data from the last three years, the Mets estimated that if the new dimensions had been in place the entire time, the Mets would have hit 81 more home runs and allowed an additional 70. But only time will tell whether the changes will help the Mets more than their opponents in the years ahead.

"A lot of things could change," Alderson said. "The pitching strategy could change. The attitude of the hitters and their approach could change. As a result, a lot of this static information that we've been evaluating isn't going to predict the outcome."

The changes will add roughly 140 seats to the ballpark, including some bar stool seats in left field. The Mo's Zone group seating area behind the right-field fence will be expanded. Construction is expected to begin within the next month.

Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon declined to specify the cost of the new walls. But he said because the Mets came in under their $800 million budget in building Citi Field, the remaining money would cover the construction costs.

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